Surgical procedures have evolved into a broad range of different types of operations, with patient positioning depending upon the specific procedure to be accomplished. While most general surgery is performed on a supine patient under the influence of a general anesthetic, other types of surgery require the patient to be positioned in other than a supine position, with hands and arms extended beside or tucked along the side of the patient. An example is the lithotomy position, wherein a patient is generally positioned in a modified supine position with the hips and knees flexed and the legs supported by canvas straps or stirrups, the arms and hands being placed beside the patient, often on arm boards, or loosely cradled over the lower abdomen and secured by the lower end of a blanket. Occasionally the patient may incur injury to the hands through improper positioning of the arms and hands, through pressure when a surgeon leans over and inadvertently bears against the hand, or through crush injuries when the leg portion of the surgical table is raised after the surgery is completed. During surgery a patient is unusually very vulnerable, as the patient is under anesthesia and normal pain warning reactions are blocked.
The bones and other structure of the hands are some of the more fragile components of the human body, and oftentimes inadvertent pressure upon one or both hands, can lead to damage to the hands in the form of a broken bone or pulled tendon, soft tissue, or nerve damage, in addition to transient ischemic problems due to loss of circulation. Such problems are, of course, extremely difficult for a patient, who is often bedridden after surgery and who may have no significant ability to perform any physical act other than with his or her hands and arms. Injury to a patient's hands may deprive the patient of the only other physical activity available until the primary surgical healing process is well underway. Of course, such extra incapacity is a distraction to a positive emotional attitude of the patient during recovery. The cost of inadvertent hand and arm injuries to patients during surgery can be considerable, as the medical profession has a duty of great care during such operations, when the unconscious patient is totally at the mercy of the medical staff performing the procedure.
Accordingly, a need exists for a device which may be used to protect or shield an extremity, such as the hand(s), wrist(s), lower arm(s), leg(s), etc., of a patient who is to experience general anesthesia in order to shield the extremities of the patient from compression or other damage due to inadvertent pressure upon these areas as the patient is positioned prior to, during, and/or after a surgical procedure.
In the past certain devices have been known to locate or position a patient's arm and hand during surgery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,057 to Fischer, titled “Medical Positioning Device,” describes various embodiments of a device for immobilizing an arm of a surgical patient. The various embodiments each include a downwardly extending flange, with a lateral flange extending inwardly there from. The lateral flange is placed beneath the mattress of a surgical table, to hold the device (and the patient's arm) immobile during surgery. This positioning device is fixed relative to the surgical table.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,650 issued Omdal et al., titled “Recessed Arm Board,” describes a generally trough shaped device having a squared, U-shaped cross section with a flange extending laterally from the upper edge of one side. The flange is placed beneath the patient or a pad on the operating table with the patient's arm being allowed to rest within the trough. Unfortunately, no padding or upper closure is disclosed to shield a patient's arm from inadvertent pressure.
The foregoing noted limitations regarding previously known surgical hand, wrist and forearm positioning and isolating devices, while significant, demonstrate that room for worthwhile improvement remains.